Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) announced her legislative bill package for 2019. Assistant Speaker pro-Tempore, Bauer-Kahan has constructed a comprehensive bill package that touches on a diverse set of issues, including the environment, education, gun safety, and public safety, as well as protections for human trafficking victims and concerns brought directly to her from her constituents. These bills bring essential change and transparency to existing programs and laws while working to build a better California.
“These bills demonstrate my support for my constituents, our students, protecting the environment and our most vulnerable while at the same time promoting fiscal responsibility and transparency in our government” Bauer-Kahan emphasized. “We look forward to the hearings, discussions, and ultimately implementation into law of this important bill package” said Bauer-Kahan.
Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan’s 2019 legislative package includes:
- Deadly Food Allergen Handling – AB 1532 – Honoring Natalie Giorgi, a 13-year-old Danville resident (AD16), who passed away when she was exposed to a deadly allergen (peanuts) while at summer camp. This bill requires organized camp food handlers to have the same food allergy training that all school food handlers must currently complete.
- Mental Health Diversion Gun Control – AB 1121 – Prohibits any individual who goes through a court-ordered mental health diversion program from possessing firearms while in the program, and requires them to petition a judge to regain the firearms upon successful completion of the program.
- Removal of CalWORKs Penalties For Higher Education – AB 807 – Removes financial penalties on CalWORKS families whose children receive scholarships, rental assistance, or access college savings accounts to provide students with a more stable and equitable path to affording a higher education.
- Out-of-State / For-Profit Online College Requirements – AB 1344- Protects college students by requiring out-of-state online, for-profit colleges to abide by the same regulations that apply to in-state colleges.
- Human Trafficking Victim Confidentiality Protections – AB 1735 – Protects victims of human trafficking by ensuring that conversations they have with caseworks are confidential.
- Paid Visitation Monitor Screenings – AB 1165 – Currently those who work as court-ordered paid visitation monitors are not required to go through basic background checks before interacting with children. This bill requires them to go through a LiveScan background check and sets which crimes (including past child abuse or sexual crimes) that would disqualify them from working with children.
- Covered California Extension – AB 1309 – Allows more Californians access to affordable health care by extending the application period by two weeks for individuals to apply for health insurance through Covered California.
- Smart Justice Fiscal Savings Reforms – AB 1421 – Seeks to establish significant cost savings for our courts and our jail system by prohibiting the flash incarceration of individuals who have served their jail sentences, and are otherwise compliant with the terms of their probation, because they are unable to pay simple court fines or fees.
- Trust Transfer Gun Control Requirements – AB 1292 – Modernizes current law that oversees the transfer of a firearm housed in an estate or trust, in order to change the existing murky process to a safe and transparent procedure that conforms to current gun control requirements.
- Small Farm Micro-Irrigation Grant Program – AB 1086 – Helps small farmers and our environment by issuing grants to small farms in order to convert to micro-irrigation systems. Studies show that micro-irrigation decreases water usage on farms by up to 60% and increases crop yields by 90%. Micro-irrigation significantly reduces water consumption in the state and reduces pesticides water-run off that contaminates our state’s drinking water.
- Illegal Dumping Penalties – AB 1216 – Increases penalties on individuals who illegally dump garbage in non-waste locations.
- Electrifying and Modernizing Ports – AB 1594 – Ensures that the three largest ports in California install charging stations for electric semi-trucks to assist in California’s goal of relying on 100% clean energy sources by 2045.
- Iron Horse Trail Transportation Extension – AB 1475 – Streamlines the design and architectural procurement process for the extension of the Iron Horse Trail over Bollinger Canyon in San Ramon to allow for alternative access points to regional transportation hubs.
